Types of Records
Choose a record type
FLHSMV offers three record types. They come from the same state driver history file, but they do not show the same amount of history.
3-year record
This is the shortest record. It shows guilty traffic results from the past three years, based on the date the court decided the case. It also shows crashes tied to those tickets, all open license actions, and license actions cleared within the past three years.
7-year record
This has the same main types of information as the 3-year record, but it uses a seven-year window. Choose this when you need a record that goes farther back in time.
Complete record
This is the broadest record FLHSMV offers. It can show older traffic results and license actions that are still kept by FLHSMV. FLHSMV also lists adjudication-withheld results and certain state correspondence as content of the complete record.
Not sure which one to choose? Order the exact type requested by the person or group that asked for your record. If no type was named and you want the broadest history available, choose the complete record.
What FLHSMV says each record can show
3-year record
- Driver license or ID card issuances, exams passed, and driver education
- Guilty traffic results within three years of the court decision date
- Crash entries when a ticket was issued because of the crash
- All open suspensions, revocations, cancellations, and disqualifications
- Those license actions cleared within three years of the date the record is run, unless FLHSMV has already removed the entry under its retention rules
7-year record
- The same main groups of information listed for a 3-year record
- Guilty traffic results within seven years of the court decision date
- Crash entries tied to those guilty traffic results
- All open license actions and actions cleared within the past seven years, unless an entry has already reached its retention limit and was removed
Complete record
- Driver license or ID card issuances, exams passed, and driver education
- All guilty and adjudication-withheld traffic results still kept by FLHSMV
- Crash entries when a ticket was issued because of the crash
- All open or closed suspensions, revocations, cancellations, and disqualifications still kept by FLHSMV
- Certain FLHSMV correspondence entries, including some entries about failure-to-comply suspensions and traffic-school elections
What is special about a complete record?
A complete record is not just a longer 7-year record. It can include older entries that FLHSMV still keeps. FLHSMV also lists adjudication-withheld results and certain state correspondence as complete-record content. Those items are not part of FLHSMV’s published list for the 3-year and 7-year records.
One example is a cleared D-6 suspension for failure to comply. FLHSMV says the suspension stays on the record for one year after reinstatement. It then becomes a correspondence entry for two more years. That correspondence entry can appear on a complete record, but not on a 3-year or 7-year record.
Important limits
- Complete does not mean every event for life. Each entry has an FLHSMV retention period. Once that period ends and FLHSMV removes the entry, it will not appear.
- Most common violations do not stay forever. FLHSMV says most moving and non-moving guilty results stay for three to five years. More serious entries can stay much longer. Alcohol-related entries can stay for 75 years.
- A crash appears only when a ticket was issued because of the crash. A driving record is not a full crash-history report.
- New items may be missing. A court or other state must report an event before FLHSMV can add it.
- Some court outcomes do not appear. FLHSMV says a driving record does not show arrests or outcomes of not guilty, dismissed, or nolle prosequi.
How to choose
- Choose 3-year when the person or group asking for the record wants only three years, or when you need a short view of recent driving history.
- Choose 7-year when seven years were requested or you want a wider view of recent tickets, cited crashes, and cleared license actions.
- Choose complete when you want the broadest state history available, including retained older entries and the adjudication-withheld and correspondence entries FLHSMV lists as complete-record content.